Roy Halladay's ownership set to plummet

Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay began Sunday owned in 100 percent of ESPN standard leagues, but that number is going to drop precipitously in the coming days. Halladay owners trusted him Sunday against the awful Miami Marlins, despite the fact he has been erratic this season and was obliterated earlier this week by the Cleveland Indians. After all, Halladay wouldn't need to be at his best to pitch against that lineup, or so goes the theory. The Marlins entered Sunday hitting .224 as a team, alone in baseball in averaging fewer than three runs per game.

Unfortunately, Sunday's results, both during and after the game, have changed the story quite a bit. After Halladay was embarrassed by an awful, Double-A lineup for nine runs in 2 1/3 innings, suffering his second consecutive 14-2 blasting, fantasy owners can't simply expect the former Cy Young Award winner to just "fix" things. The Phillies can't pretend it was just a bad day, because this was more than that. And now, after Halladay finally and mercifully admitted his right shoulder has been hurting for weeks, we can assume a disabled list stint is pending, and you can feel fine about sending Halladay to your free-agent lists in 10- and 12-team mixed leagues.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Insider

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Eric Karabell

Eric Karabell is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric contributes to ESPN The Magazine and appears on a variety of digital platforms for ESPN.com. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2011.

Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors all Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.